rec.autos.simulators

This should answer a few of your questions.

Thanks,
Alex

That certainly clears things up.  100 for 1 tack and 1 car + extra payments for all sorts
of extras including beta testing !
So what extra's do you get ?  Some sky ? A few spectators ? A bridge ? The list is
endless. What about the demo ? Is that free ?

I'm dying to see the bandwagon jumpers reaching for their blankety-blank cheque books and
pens.  How can a product that costs so much be ***? One thing is for sure, if it sells
in the quantity they hope for at the price they state, they won't be filing for insolvency
again !

http://www.west-racing.com/forums/index.php?s=1821d147ca5556fad744bbd...

David G Fisher

http://www.west-racing.com/forums/index.php?s=1821d147ca5556fad744bbd...

If you beta test that will be deducted from what you pay for the game.
Hopefully it isn't that much though, I was a little dissapointed with that
figure :(

I have the same question about the demo

filing for insolvency

Bandwagon jumpers? I hardly think following something for year would be
jumping on the bandwagon. Hopefully they'll sell it for more like 70 pounds,
instead of 100 which is 150USD, bleh.

Still, can't wait for this sim!
Alex

Thanks, Alex. Sounds promising!

Malc.

Now where is that thread? TIA

David G Fisher

I love the Westies, but I'm going to have to pass until at least some
of the features are done.  As it stands, what they're releasing sounds
like one of the earliest Racer builds.

Jason

They are out of their friggin' minds.

-Larry

http://www.west-racing.com/forums/index.php?s=1821d147ca5556fad744bbd...

I think however that only a small group of people are willing to pay
that much money for only 1 car and track, it doesn't seem like a
really good idea to make the basic price that high.. Even here on RAS,
a group of simracing freak, not everyone is willing to pay that much
money.

If the core program is that good, I think they can make so much more
money by selling lots of copies of the core program at a normal price,
and THEN earn the real money with all the addons.

Basicly like Playstation and Nintendo work.. they don't earn the money
with the consoles themselves, but with the ridiculously high priced
games.

Andre

The one-car approach is ok, all you need for a racing series is one car. So
you buy one car per year, no prob with that. However, it would be nice to be
able to test drive the cars before making a buying decision, because then
you'll be stuck with that car for an entire racing season and beforehand you
have no idea whether you like it or not. If this is to be a professional
simulation, then test driving the cars before buying them is a must.

I also think that no matter how good the physics are, for $200.- I expect
more than just one track and a perhaps basic feature set with perhaps even
partially unfinished features.

Maybe it would be a better idea to sell the core modules at prices a greater
community is willing to pay, and sell only specialised modules designed for
professionals, like the wind tunnel, at 'professional' rates. Then again,
who knows what they were intending to charge for these modules anyway :-)

I am also not so sure about the so-called beta test approach.

It is of course an honour to participate in a project as ambitious as for
example GPL or RL, but detailed testing can be hard work. I am not sure
making the testers pay is a guarantee for making them work as hard and
diligently as necessary to eliminate the more hidden issues such programs
usually have...

Achim

"This has not been decided as it depends very much on predicted sales, which
in turn depend on the response from the community. The more of us who buy
into the concept the cheaper it will be."
Building software based on such a lax/speculative pricing structure is an
accident waiting to happen IMHO.

"They test on a P3 733 with V5"
Why??  Could they not find an older slower PC and video card to use?  Why
not optimize the game for newer cards with better features for rendering and
shading?

"I didn't push this biggie. Very few products are done on time and they are
not stupid, so we are not going to get an answer to this yet IMO. "
Only products with a poor design spec and project plan fail to meet
deadlines.  Not having a target date in place leads to issues of code bloat
and feature creep that can keep a product shipping for months.

http://www.west-racing.com/forums/index.php?s=1821d147ca5556fad744bbd...